Nelle-Point Counter Point Round One

Right now the debate between me and Karen (or is it Karen and I?) is about Nelle. The character. Not the actress. That needs to be made clear in the first sentence. The actress is phenominal. No debate there. But as for Nelle…

Death Becomes Her?

She’s evil. Now, I am not against evil. I mean, Evil Dead, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Resident Evil, etc, stuff like that. But it has always been my experience watching GH that evil always wins. Or, at most, has a setback and then triumphs again. Or, even worse, the person finds redemption. Now, we don’t want that with Nelle, do we?

Nelle, in all her glory, is evil. And she keeps on winning in every scene she is in. Which is fine at times because bad guys get to win every now and then. Just ask felon Jason and his registered gun. However, a good bad guy has to cross the baddie line and show heart every now and then. And a vulnerability. And desire to win both on and off the playing field. Nelle doesnt have that vulnerability. When she enters a scene, we already know the outcome: she wins. Every time.

The list of baddies on GH goes way back. And every one of them had a soft side and a vulnerability. All the Cassadines, Edward, Faison, Heather, etc. They had an Achillie’s Heel and do not win 100% of the time. Unlike Nelle. (so far)

At some point, she will have to be stood up to, taken down, Krystal/Alexis lily pond fight to get her to fight stronger for what she wants. And someone will. I hope.

What a kind old gentleman having tea with Susan.

Karen and I (did I get it right that time?) also threw out the idea of a murder mystery with Nelle and I am oh so for it. When was the last time there was a really good murder mystery on the show? That is not rhetorical. I'm asking you. When? For me it was Susan Moore, the Padme of General Hospital. You know, gave birth to twins, separated them, didnt tell anyone, had them surface 42 years later. It was Star Wars only on your television. What soaps tend to do is have a list of suspects, all contract players and then bring on someone no one ever heard of with little or no backstory and then make them the killer not to risk losing any main characters. Anyone remember Crane Tolliver? No? That's why. Scapegoat. Anytime soon, watch out for an orderly in the background to be given a first name on screen and bet your bottom dollar that you have your future murderer.

Here is how I see it:

CLASSIC MOVIE! MUST SEE!

Like most soap murders, there should be a long, long list of suspects parading a day or two before saying “I could KILL that woman…” etc. You know the schtick, complete with piano music in the background. And then we would see them handle a weapon. Monica could be at her desk and using a letter opener, Michael could be in front of Edwards gun case. Olivia could be in the kitchen with a big meat cleaver chopping onions, etc...

I think it would work for me if her murder is faked. Oh no, not like THAT! We had enough of that on this show. When Jordan arrives and is incompetent, she will see Nelle hanging from the rafter of the Boathouse and declare it a suicide. (We would only see a shoe on the floor and everyone looking up. No gore. This is Disney) With Robert on the scene, he starts noticing different things and when the body is lowered, Robert see a needle mark, a stabbing and a gunshot wound. He says “she is dead alright, but not by suicide…” (Did I say Jordan was incompetent?)

When Robert and the forensic CSI/NCIS/Chicago Whatever/Quincy tv show wannabies autopsy the body they discover the true cause of death and in what order she was attacked.

FLASHBACKS to the weapons. Now we see flashbacks where Willow walked in and talked to Monica and admired the letter opener and Monica gave it to her as a gift. Ned was also looking at the gun case, and when he walked away we noticed as viewers and imprint of a gun that is missing. Lucas visits Bobbie and notices a needle and insulin bottle on her table and asks her how her health has been with her diabetes. Later we see the needle missing from the table. I love red herrings and I wish they used tons of them with the weapons and who we thought used them. Then show what really happened in flashbacks. I live for this stuff.

Recreating the murder scene, Robert goes over the progression of the night. We see in flashbacks different people walking in and taking turns stabbing and hurting Nelle, most assuming she is sleeping, but not realizing she might be dead at that point. Julian walks in with intent to kill her and sees that she is already dead. He looks on the floor and sees a piece of paper with Lucas’ signature on it that Brad must have dropped. Julian, thinking that Lucas killed Nelle, tries to cover up for him and he finds some rope in the boathouse and ties her up from the rafter to make it look like a suicide. But only Robert has the "Clue": who did it and with what weapon (we know it was in the Boathouse).

(take it from there, Karen!)

Sorry, Dave-- you lose on this one. Nelle is classic bad-girl soapy goodness. Think back to Erica Kane. Not the "evolved" woman but the young one. Remember when she hid her birth control pills from Tom?? Oh I sure do!! Erica was manipulative, mouthy and had no conscience back then. Neither did Lucy Coe... or.. Bobbie Spencer. That gives Nelle plenty of room to do her baddie deeds and eventually? Turn out ok. OR..she could be another Heather Webber. I will accept that as well.

I love watching her work. I love how she sits on the edge of a Q chair with her legs crossed and a smirk on her face. I was very upset when Michael moved her to the boat house !! HOW DARE HE! I love she's also involved with uber under-handed Tad Martin Gray. Squee! I'm living for the day when she turns and says: Wiley is MINE@@@!! ALL MINE!!

I would like a nice murder-mystery involving Nelle. I'm torn because you know I want her on canvas. BUT alas, she's the new Susan Moore. I'd love for her to kill herself but frame Michael. Sort of a "Gone Girl" thing. She actually could pull off a disappearance, making it look like she died (blood and all) and has all clues and DNA lead to Michael. heh.
David, your murder mystery is a great one as well!! I guess we'd make a good writing team?

YOUR TURN!! What do you think? Do you like Nelle?? Want her to stay on canvas or be killed off? Do you like the idea of her faking her death to get Michael framed -then popping up later to laugh in his face!!?? Let us know in the comments!!


PS from Dave: If you EVER find yourself chopping onions with a meat cleaver in your kitchen like Olivia, chew a piece of gum. Chewing gum while chopping onions keeps you from crying. Seriously, I am not making this up. I learned this trick from Lucy's Aunt Charlene.

PSS. Wait, ROUND ONE!!?!?!?!?!?!